About 30 minutes had passed after the Rams survived the 49ers in the NFC Championship game Sunday night to advance to Super Bowl LVI, and reporters were packed into an interview room at field level inside SoFi Stadium, waiting for Rams head coach Sean McVay to appear for his postgame press conference. 

On the left side of the interview room was a door to the Rams’ locker room, where music was thumping at a decibel level that would make the DJ at one of the hottest L.A. nightclubs blush. 

Alas, McVay, who at age 36 is in his fifth year as the Rams’ head coach and about to coach in his second Super Bowl, emerged. 

Five questions into his press conference, McVay addressed the elephant in the room — the wild celebration on the other side of that door. 

“How about this music?’’ McVay said, beaming. “Let’s keep it quick. I got to get in there.’’ 

McVay, so young and energetic, looked like he should have been back inside that locker room partying with his players, because he’s one of them. That’s what makes him so special at what he does. 

It, too, is part of what separates his Super Bowl counterpart, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, who at age 38 is in his third season in Cincinnati. 

Taylor was a Rams assistant receivers coach in 2017, McVay’s first season with the team, and in 2018, he was Los Angeles’ quarterbacks coach. He’s one of several former assistants from the McVay coaching tree to make his mark with his own team as a head coach running his own shop. 

Taylor won two games his first season, four last season and has won 13 and counting this season, including the postseason. 

“The joke is if you have a cup of coffee with Sean McVay, you’re going to be a head coach in the NFL,’’ Taylor joked recently. “There’s a lot of truth to that.” 

There sure is. Brandon Staley was McVay’s defensive coordinator in 2020 and became the Chargers’ head coach last season. 

Matt LaFleur was McVay’s offensive coordinator in 2017 and became the Packers’ head coach in 2018. 

McVay’s offensive coordinator of the past two seasons, Kevin O’Connell, is reportedly about to be hired by the Vikings to be their head coach, once the Super Bowl is complete. 

Taylor called working with McVay “the best two years of my life,’’ adding, “He’s really showed a lot of us young guys you can do it your own way.” 

One of McVay’s virtues as a head coach is his deflection of praise. When asked on Thursday about the impressive coaching tree that has grown from his leadership, he said, “I almost think it’s a little ridiculous when you talk about the tree, because these guys are co-workers where we positively pour into one another. 

“I just happen to be in the role that I’m in. But whether it’s Kevin, Branden Staley, Zac Taylor, Matt LaFleur, I learned more from them than those guys have from me.’’

McVay described Taylor’s term with the Rams as “two great years,’’ adding, “He’s a special coach, a great competitor. He’s got a great way about himself with the players. His even-keel demeanor and disposition really shows with the way his team plays.’’ 

McVay called himself “the least surprised person’’ when Taylor was hired by the Bengals. 

“There are certain people when you’re around them they’re just so comfortable in their own skin, so humble, but there’s a confidence that you know is there,’’ he said. “He had great command of the game. He did a great job of whatever role was asked of him, he owned it and he made it even better than what you had asked, redefined the role.’’ 

Similarities between the two? 

“We both go about it the same way in terms of we’re really competitive, but he’s probably more calm than I am,’’ McVay said. “He’s got high character. Players love him. I love Zac. I’m so happy for him. I’m glad we’re going against each other, but we’re going to do everything in our power to try to finish this off.’’ 

Rams pass-rusher Von Miller, who was acquired in a trade in November and is going to his third Super Bowl, is just three years younger than McVay. 

“You just relate a little bit more to guys you’re closer in age to,” Miller said Thursday. “Coach McVay, he just has that energy, he has that leadership spark about him. He gets the best out of his players. 

“When you feel like a coach loves you and appreciates you, it makes you want to play a little bit harder.’’ 

That appears to have been taking place for both the Rams and Bengals — with a common denominator.